Rope-making machine



MAYNARD ROPE MAKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 16. 1922 2r TTORNE a K M Wm M m Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

UNETED STATES PATENT oFFics.

JOHN MAYNARD, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE SUPERIOR MANUFACTUR- ING- OOMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

ROPE-MAKING MACHINE.

Application filed December 16, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MAYNARD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rope-Making Machines, of which the following is a specification, the principle of the invention being herein explained and the best mode in which I have contemplated applying that principle, so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

- The present improvements, relating as indicated to rope making mechanism, have more particular regard to a portable machine or outfit foruse in this connection, such as the one described, for example, in the patent to William H. Fullington, No. 1,482,991, dated October 24, 1922. The type of machine in question is characterized by having a twister body in the form of a suitable support to which is attached a plurality of rotatable hooks. The ends of the loose strands to be twisted are attached to such hooks, respectively, such strands being maintained in proper spaced relation with respect to each other by means of a spreader, while the rear extremity of the finished rope or cable is supported by means of a swiveled hook.

In machines of this type it has heretofore been the practice to maintain the finished portion of the cable, together with the component strands as they are being twisted, under proper tension by means of a suitable weight attached to a cord that passes over a pulley and is secured to the aforesaid swiveled hook.

The use of such weight device, however, is objectionable for various reasons, among them being the difficulty of readily varying the tension to suit diiferent conditions and the fact that space has to be provided for the vertical play of the Weight. The object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide a simple and compact substitute device instead of such weighted cord and pulley, whereby any desired degree of tension may be obtained as the strands are being twisted into cable form.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawing and the following de- Serial No. 607,288.

scription setting forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawing i Fig. 1 is a perspective viewiof a rope making machine of the type in question wherein my improved tension device is incorporated; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, on a larger scale, of such tension device; Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the latter, the plane of such section being indicated by the line 3-3, Fig. 2; Flg. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 2, but showing a modified form of the device; and Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the latter taken on the plane indicated by the line 5-5, Fig. 4.

As has been indicated, the construction of the twisting mechanism proper, as well as of the spacer member, constitutes no part of the present invention. It will be sufiicient, accordingly, to note that such mechanism comprises essentially a plate 1 forming part of asuitable housing-2 and carrying a plurality of hooks 3, the number of such hooks corresponding with the number of strands a that enter into the cable A. Said hooks 3 are individually rotatably secured to the plate 1 and a crank 4 is suitably intergeared with said hooks so as to rotate the latter in unison about their respective axes. The spreader 5 is preferably of peculiar disk form, as described in the application hereinbefore referred to, but so far as the device of present interest is concerned, any suitable spreader may of course be employed so long as it serves to separate the'loose strands while they are being twisted and to wind them in the rope or cable A at the required angle. A weight 6 is attached to such spreader by means of a suitable cord so as to normally maintain the same against rotation. The rear end of the cable A is secured to a swiveled hook 7 aligned therewith, said hook being in turn secured by means of a tail rope or cord 8 and a clamp 9 of special construction to another hook 10 that is attached to a suitable fixed support. It will be understood, of course, that the twisting mechanism 2 is similarly fixedly supported when in use.

The device 9, as shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3, comprises essentially two opposed clamp blocks 11 and 12, the latter of which is adapted to be held in adjustably spaced position with respect to the former by means of a set screw 13. The tail rope is passed through between such clamp locks 11 and 12 and by adjustment of screw 13 is frictionally held under any desired pressure so that in order to pull same, a predetermined tension must be placed on the tail rope and thus will be placed on the cable A as it is being twisted, the effect of such twisting being of course to shorten the original distance between the twisting hooks 3 and the swiveled hook 7.

In the modifiedform of device shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a rebent plate 14 is employed, such plate having a curved clamp portion 15 through which the tail rope 8 may pass and be held in exactly the same'fashion as it is held betweensaid clamp locks 11 and 12 in the first described form of the device. A short bolt 16 that passes through the two side portions of the plate 14 and is provided with a wing nut 17 enables, as before, any desired degree of pressure to be placed upon the rope, thereby producing a corresponding tension.

' With either form of my improved device it will be obvious that first of allno weight is necessary in order toiinpose the necessary degree of tension on the strands being twisted; Furthermore, such tension can be instantly and conveniently varied to suit the requirements of the, particular operation by adjusting the set screw 13 in the one case or the wing nut 17 in the other. Finally, due to the fact that the portion of the tail rope that lies beyond the tension device is not required to sustain aweight, it; may be coiled up into small compass, no extensive space being required such as where provision must be made for the play of a weight.

Other modes of applying the principle or my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention 1. In a rope-making machine, the combination of a fixed support provided with a plurality of rotatable hooks adapted to receive the ends of the strands to be twisted, a spacer disk for said strands, a swiveled hook adapted to retain the end of thefinished rope, a tail-rope attached to said swiveled hook, and a relatively fixed clamp device engaging said tail-rope, whereby movement of the latter may occur only under predetermined tension.

2. In a rope-making machine, the combination of a fixed support provided with a plurality of rotatable hooks adapted to receive the ends of the strands to be twisted, a spacer disk for said strands, a swiveled hook adapted to retain the end of the finished rope, a tail-rope attached to said swiveled hook, and a relatively fixed clamp de vice engaging said tail-rope, whereby movement of the latter may occur only under predetermined tension, said clamp device being adjustable to vary the pressure on said tail-rope and thus correspondingly to vary such tension.

Signed by me this 14th day of December,

JOHN MAYNARD. 

